Shu'ab al-Iman (al-Bayhaqi) 105

Translation

Machine translation, not reviewed

He said: My grandfather related in his books from his teachers that Abū al-ʿAtāhiyah Ismāʿīl b. Qāsim came to the shop of the booksellers' portico, sat and talked, then reached his hand to a notebook and wrote on the back of it: [Meter: al-mutaqārib] How astonishing: how can God be disobeyed, or how can the denier deny Him? And in every movement and every stillness, there is always a witness for God. And in everything there is a sign of His, indicating that He is One. Then he threw it aside and got up. The next day, or some time after that, Abū Nuwās came, sat and talked, and reached his hand to that notebook. He said: "Excellent, may God fight him! By God, I would love to have it as mine in exchange for everything I have said. Whose is it?" I said: "Abū al-ʿAtāhiyah's." He said: "He has more right to it." Then Abū Nuwās took the notebook and wrote: [Meter: al-mujtathth] Glory be to Him who created creation from a weak, despised thing, Driving it from one resting place to a secure resting place, Gathering it little by little, in veils, hidden from the eyes, Until movements appeared, created out of stillness. When Abū al-ʿAtāhiyah returned, he looked at it and said: "Excellent, may God fight him! By God, I would love to have it as mine in exchange for everything I have said and will say. Whose is it?" We said: "Abū Nuwās's." He said: "The devil!" Then Abū al-ʿAtāhiyah wrote: [Meter: al-wāfir] If I am jet-black, musk is darker still, and my dark skin has no permanence, But I am far from indecency, as far as the earth is from the expanse of the sky."

Report a problem

No source translates this, so this English was written by a computer model. It can be wrong; rely on the Arabic. Report a problem below.